When sales managers are asked to name their top challenge, they consistently say it is holding sales people accountable and motivating them on an ongoing basis. What I find is that sales managers tend to focus on managing their sales people to results from month-to-month, or quarter-to-quarter. There is little understanding of how to help sales people link their day-to-day activities to achieving results, which causes confusion and apprehension. Helping sales people map out a clear path to success through planning and holding them accountable on day-to-day or week-to-week activities creates a sense of urgency. And I can’t think of anything more motivational than creating a causal link between activities today that result in rewards one, two, or six months down the road.

See my article in the Knowledge Center under Sales Management entitled Motivating Sales People through Accountability for further insight.